Just found out Musk actually clarified his South African background on Twitter back in 2024, and honestly the Tolkien connection is wild. He's not Afrikaner like people assumed—he's from a British/English family, same as JRR Tolkien who was also born in South Africa. Even the LOTR author connection played into his whole Grimes courtship thing apparently. The whole 'race' and heritage question around Musk always seemed off to me because people just made assumptions without knowing his actual family background. Tolkien born in Bloemfontein in 1892, Musk in Pretoria in 1971—both British heritage kids in apartheid-era South Africa but totally different contexts. Musk's even obsessed with Tolkien's works, constantly quotes them. Kind of explains why he's so particular about how his story gets told, especially after all those fake emerald mine rumors his dad supposedly had. The whole thing shows how much misunderstanding there's been around who Musk actually is and where he comes from. Not just some random Afrikaner billionaire—his actual lineage and upbringing were way more specific than that. Pretty interesting how one tweet cleared up years of people getting his background completely wrong.